UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has confirmed a rematch with Conor McGregor ‘makes sense’ if the Irishman beats Dustin Poirier at 155 pounds in his next fight.

McGregor has agreed to take on Poirier in a rematch of their 2014 clash in January of next year, but it is unclear whether the bout will be at lightweight or welterweight.

And Khabib, who stopped McGregor in four rounds two years ago, has warned that if The Notorious One plans to stay at 170lbs then he can forget about another chance to fight him.

"If he beats him (Dustin Poirier) in 155, it makes sense," he told the Mike Swick podcast. "But if they fight in 170, how can you fight in 170 and then next fight be in 155.

"They want to make everything easy. If you want to take it the easy way, you will never deserve another title shot. 

"Remember before I fought him, I said 'I am going to make you humble and I am going to put you on the line' and now after two years people understand my words.

"I am going to put him on the line and I am going to make the decision. If he fights 170, bye bye."

McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round when the two met six years ago.

Meanwhile, Khabib is making his long-awaited return to the octagon this weekend when he takes on Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi.

The 32-year-old, who has not fought since beating Poirier in September 2019, will extend his undefeated MMA record to 29-0 with a win on Saturday night.

And earlier this week Khabib explained his desire to reach 30-0, a streak he believes would rival boxer Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0.

"30-0 is going to be great," he told Yahoo! Sports. "It’s looking good, it sounds good. 30-0, OK. It’s going to be a great record, this is like Mayweather in MMA. We’ll see, I’m very close to it.

"OK, I finish Justin Gaethje, I finish one more guy, I dominate him — I think my name is going to be always in history."